Casket, vault and cover handling mechanism



Sept. 1, 1959 E. A. MEEWES CASKET, VAULT AND cbvER HANDLING MECHANISMFiled May 13, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I i l l .15 v

1 z L- "-------'-'-'--"*-1 INVENTOR.

Eon/A RD 4. M55 WES ATTORNEY E. A, MEEWES 7 2,901,812

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wag. A WV A u a l l I.. L V mm mm 7 b fl A, I, M E

Sept. 1, 1959 CASKET, VAULT AND COVER HANDLING MECHANISM Filed May 13,1957 7lllllllllllll United States Patent Ofiice 2,901,812 Patented Sept.1, 1959 2,901,812 CASKET, VAULT COVER HANDLING MECHANISM Edward A.Meewes, Pico, Calif. Application May 13, 1957, Serial No. 658,648 '7Claims. (c1.-'z7--32 This invention relates to mechanism for handling acasket, a vault into which the casket is fitted and a cover for thevault to eflect sealed enclosure of the casket within the vault and whenthe vault is in a grave.

Each ofthe above items is a heavy and cumbersome unit and is difficultto handle. The labor of several men is "ordinarily required for placinga vault within a grave, a casket first'above thevault andthentherewithin, placing a cover on the vault for enclosing the casket,and, finally, lowering the combined vault, casket and cover preparatorytofilling in the earth around the combination unit. When it is realizedthat caskets are frequently quite heavy and often are made of metal, and

vthat'a vault and cover usually are made of cement of "a thicknesssuitable to protect the casket enclosed thereby, it willbe-evidentthatmanual handling of these units is, indeed, wasteful and consuming oflabor and time.

An objectof the present invention is to'provide mechathat canbe'manipulated by one person "to accom- -plish theabove-described"handling and/or moving of 'th'ecombined device.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for moving both avault and a casket, relatively, so that the latter moves into the formerand both together may be lowered into a grave, the movement startingwith the casket in a position above the mouth of the grave, as

when services are being conducted.

A'further object of the invention is to provide means as above indicatedbyme'ans of which a'casket is lowered intoa vault while the vaultisbeing lowered into a grave. The invention also has for its objects toprovide such means that "are positive in operation, convenient in use,-

easily installed'in a'working position and easily disconnectedtherefrom,'economical of'manu'facture, relatively "simple, and ofgeneral 'superiority'and serviceability.

The invention also comprises novel details of con- 'struction and novelcombinations and arrangements of parts,'which will more fully appear inthecourse of'the following description.

However, the "drawings -merely show and the following description merelydescribes, preferred embodiments of the present invention, which aregiven by way 'ofillustration or example only.

In the drawings, like reference characters designate similar parts inthe several views.

A Fig l is "a top plan view'of vault and casket handling mechanismembodyirrg'apreferred'form accordingto the Fig. 6 is a cross-sectionalview of the means shown in Fig. 5.

A grave or cavity 15 is dug in the ground '16 in the usual way and,also, in the usual manner, a'platform 17 is placed upon the ground so asto frame the grave. 'In the present instance, said platform mounts a'pair :of longitudinally arranged shafts 18, one on each's'ide of thegrave, the ends of said shafts being journalled in bearings 19 arrangedin .pairs at the opposite 'e'n'dsof the platform. As is common, two ofthese bearings are provided with drive means, the same bein g commonlyconnected by a cross shaft 20 that may be turned'by a crank applied toeither drive end 21. It will lie-realized that shaft 20 drives shaftsI8'and that the'latter maybe driven in either direction, as desired. Itwill also be realized that a'power-reversing drive may be provided forthe shafts 18. These shafts turn in'opposite directions so as to take upor'pay out on cables 22 at each end, it being understood that saidcables span across the grave 15 and may be usedas slings by means ofwhich a casket may be lowered into a grave in instances where vaults arenot used. 7

It will be seen that, except for the cables 22, the grave opening isclear. The above-described and generally conventional means constitutesa power unit which is'the base upon which the present mechanism ismounted.

The drawing shows a conventional vault-23that usually comprises arectangular receptacle made of "cement 'and with wall thickness toinsure against penetrationofmoisture. The same is open-topped and, withsome clearance all around, is adapted to fit within the grave 15 Aconventional lid or cover (not shown) may be'pr ov ided for said vault.The enclosure comprising said vault and cover is adapted to'house' acasket 25. By applying grouting, mortar and the like 'betweenthe vaultand lid to cover the seam therebetween, the casket may be sealed in andthe same is protected as hereinabove-indicated.

In the present case, the cables 22 comprise vaultsuspending slings andby rotation of the shafts 18, the vault may be lowered into or raisedout of the grave.

According to this invention, the above-described means is provided,generally, with means 26 to lower'the casket 25 into the vault 23, andmeans 27 to separably connect the means 26 to the drive shafts 18whereby said means 26 may be easily removed after serving itsoperational purpose. Y

In Figs. 1 to 4, the means 26 is shown as bands or webs 29 that spanbetween the shafts 18, one adjacent each end of said shafts andpreferably inward of the cables 22. Said webs are trained across theopen top of the vault 23 and serve to support a casket 25 and to holdthe same upwardly outward of the interior of the vault.

The means 27 is best shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and, while the same maycomprise any suitable quick detachable means, is here shown as a clampbar 30'on studs 31 affixed to each shaft 18, each said bar having slots32 engaged with'said studs so the bar may be dislodged from the studs toenable detachment of that end of a web 29 that is clamped by the bar.The means 27 may be pro vided on one or both shafts 18, although one issufficient to enable removal of a web from between a vault and a casketafter the latter has been lowered into the former.

It will be seen, by comparing the positions of the vault 23 and casket25 in Figs. 3 and 4, that, from a position one above the other andrespectively supported by cables 22 and webs 29, said vault moves intothe grave 15 while the casket moves into the vault when the shafts 18are rotated in a direction to slacken oif on said cables and webs. Thus,casket 25 moves faster and a further distance than does the vault 23.After the casket has achieved a bottoming position in the vault andbefore C9 the latter is finally fully lowered into the grave, the vaultcover may be applied. Thereafter, the casket-provided vault may be fullylowered in the ordinary way.

While the foregoing has illustrated and described what are nowcontemplated to be the best modes of carrying out my invention, theconstructions are, of course, subject to modification without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. It is, therefore, notdesired to restrict the invention to the particular forms ofconstruction illustrated and described, but to cover all modificationsthat may fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

Vaults vary in design and the present means may, without essentialchange, handle air seal types of vaults as well.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus having a single pair of parallel longitudinal shaftsadapted to be driven in either direction, as desired, and disposed oneon either side of a grave, a pair of cables connected to and spanningbetween said shafts adjacent each end thereof and adapted to support avault above the grave, and means connected to the shafts located betweenthe cables and spanning between said shafts in supported engagement withthe vault to support a casket above said vault, rotation of the shafts,in one direction, increasing the spanning lengths of both the cables andthe spanning means simultaneously whereby increased length of the cablescauses the vault to lower into the grave and simultaneous increasedlength of the spanning means causes the casket to lower into the Vaultduring mentioned lowering of the vault.

2. In an apparatus having a single pair of parallel longitudinal shaftsadapted to be driven in either direction, as desired, and disposed oneon either side of a grave, a pair of cables connected to and spanningbetween said shafts adjacent each end thereof and adapted to support avault above the grave, and means connected to the shafts located betweenthe cables and spanning between said shafts in supported engagement withthe vault to support a casket above said vault, rotation of the shafts,in one direction, increasing the spanning lengths of both the cables andthe spanning means simultaneously whereby increased length of the cablescauses the vault to lower into the grave and simultaneous increasedlength of the spanning means causes the casket tolower into the vaultduring mentioned lowering of the vault, said latter means comprising twobands connected to the shafts and spanningacross the top of the vault.

3. In an apparatus having a single pair of parallel longitudinal shaftsadapted to be driven in either direction, as desired, and disposed oneon either side of a grave, a pair of cables connected to and spanningbetween said shafts adjacent each end thereof and adapted to support avault above the grave, and means connected to the shafts located betweenthe cables and spanning between said shafts in supported engagement withthe vault to support a casket above said vault, rotation of the shafts,in one direction, increasing the spanning lengths of both the cables andthe spanning means simultaneously whereby increased length of the cablescauses the vault to lower into the grave and simultaneous increasedlength of the spanning means causes the casket to lower into the vaultduring mentioned lowering the vault, said latter means comprising twobands connected to the shafts and spanning across the top of the vault,at least one end of each band being provided with a separable connectionwith one of the shafts.

4. In an apparatus having a single pair of parallel longitudinal shaftsadapted to be driven in either direction, as desired, and disposed oneon either side of a grave, a pair of cables connected to and spanningbetween said shafts adjacent each end thereof and adapted to support avault above the grave, the combination with said shafts of acasket-supporting webbing adjacent each end thereof connected to andspanning between the shafts across the top of the vault, said webbingbeing wrapped around each shaft in a direction to foreshorten as thecables foreshorten and to lengthen as the cables lengthen, rotation ofthe shafts in one direction increasing the spanning lengths of thecables and webbing simultaneously whereby the vault lowers into thegrave on the slack of the cables as the same lengthens and the casketlowers into the vault on the slack of the webbing during lowering of thevault.

5. In an apparatus having a single pair of parallel longitudinal shaftsadapted to be driven in either direction, as desired, and disposed oneon either side of'a grave, a pair of cables connected to and spanningbetween said shafts adjacent each end thereof and adapted to support avault above the grave, the combination with said shafts of acasket-supporting webbing adjacent each end thereof connected to andspanning between the shafts across the top of the vault, said webbingbeing wrapped around each shaft in a direction to foreshorten as thecables foreshorten and to lengthen as the cables lengthen, rotation ofthe shafts in one direction increasing the spanning lengths of thecables and webbing simultaneously whereby the vault lowers into thegrave on the slack of the cables as the same lengthens and the casketlowers into the vault on the slack of the webbing during lowering of thevault, at least one end of each webbing being provided with a separableconnection with one of the shafts.

6. Casket and vault lowering mechanism comprising means to support avault above a grave opening, means spanning across and engaged with thevault to support a casket above said vault, means to operate thecasketsupporting means to move the casket into the vault and means tosimultaneously operate the vault-supporting means to move the vault intothe grave opening during such movement of the casket to lower the Vaultand the casket into the grave opening simultaneously.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which the vault and casketsupporting means comprises flexible bands arranged transversely acrossand above a grave opening, a single pair of longitudinal members on eachside of the grave opening and on which said bands are wound, and meansto rotate the latter members in opposite directions to unwind the twobands simultaneously and in the same direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,112,286 Haase Mar. 29, 1938 2,163,173 Haase June 20, 1939 2,249,687Eshleman July 15, 1941

